Hiroshima, Aug. 6 (Jiji Press)—Hiroshima Mayor Matsui Kazumi called for further global efforts to abolish nuclear weapons as the western Japan city marked the seventy-second anniversary of the US atomic bombing on Sunday.

In a speech delivered at an annual memorial ceremony, Matsui noted that 122 countries last month adopted a treaty banning nuclear weapons to demonstrate “their unequivocal determination to achieve abolition.”

“Given this development, the governments of all countries must now strive to advance further toward a nuclear-weapon-free world,” Matsui said in his annual Peace Declaration.

He called on policymakers to respect their differences and “make good-faith efforts to overcome them.”

“To this end, it is vital that you deepen your awareness of the inhumanity of nuclear weapons, consider the perspectives of other countries, and recognize your duty to build a world where all thrive together,” he said.